For the past few minutes, I’ve been playing with Blackbird Pie, a plug-in that allows WordPress users to embed individual tweets in their posts/pages with the click of a (cute little blackbird) button. Since I’ve got it all figured out now, I might as well embed some tweets and see what happens. So without further ado, here are a few of my favorite student tweets from the first week of school along with a bit of commentary under each section.
NOTE: Most of these tweets are from my Introduction to Film students. For snarkier comments that took place during Week 1, see my Cinema History students in all their glory (and humor) in the post “Twitter Snark and Cinema History.”
Tweeting Teacher = Cool?
I suggested he remember how “cool” I am when he’s filling out course evaulations at the end of the semester.
First-Day Fun
Glad to know the “first class was fun.” Let’s see if students are saying the same once we get into an in-depth discussion on cinematography and narrative structure in Citizen Kane…
No Snobby or Lame Teachers, Please.
Yes, thank God! That WOULD “suck,” wouldn’t it? (It probably helps that I show a clip from The 40-Year-Old Virgin on the first day.)
Tweetdeck’s “Awesomeness”
Ha, indeed! I’ve never noticed that.
Perhaps I Should Explain
First, yes, I did say this. Second, no, I didn’t know that students would tweet it.
So here’s the deal: I devote about 30 minutes of the first class period to a discussion on the studio system, film censorship, and The Production Code — industry guidelines that determined what filmmakers in the classical era of Hollywood (1930s-1960s) could and could not put onscreen. Most of this self-governing censorship revolved around two things (the same two things Hollywood still concerns itself with): sex and violence. So at this point in the lecture, I always read aloud a few rules from the Code. For example,
“The technique of murder must be presented in a way that will not inspire imitation.”
“MISCEGENATION (sex relationship between the white and black races) is forbidden.”
“In general, where essential to the plot, scenes of passion should not be presented in such a way as to arouse or excite the passions of the ordinary spectator.”
It is after this last rule that I generally say something like, “That’s right. Those running Hollywood did not want anything represented on a 30-foot screen that would make audiences members get too excited while they watch — you know, no tingling in certain places.”
Yep, this statement often draws the biggest laugh of the semester… well, until I mention the word gonorrhea alongside this bit from the Production Code: “SEX HYGIENE AND VENEREAL DISEASES are not subjects for motion pictures.”
Bring on the Notes!
Right on! Yes, lots of content. Lots of films. Lots of notes. Lots of analysis. Lots of discussing/tweeting about all of the above. Get ready!
Educational Virgin
While discussing how films can create “subjective time,” I whipped out this funny clip from The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Guess it resonated with at least one student.
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Let the Learning Begin…
Here’s hoping you — as well as the rest of your classmates — learn something new every week…
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Professor of film and Shakespeare. Advocate of social media. Lover of popular culture,